As we have already discussed, in most instances it is not in the interest of the biller to present their bill in an online banking location. It makes marketing almost impossible, and the biller stands to lose what is very often their only direct touchpoint with their customer.
For the biller, biller direct websites remain the best option. Billers can present their bill, receive payment and market to the consumer all in one online location.
However, from the consumer's point of view, this is the most flawed of all models. Consumers will not proactively enroll at each biller website, choose and remember numerous usernames and passwords, nor will they visit so many sites each month.
In the US, biller direct payments make up approximately 50% of electronic payments. This is historically due to the fact that banks have been slow to offer and market effective bill payment. Just like all other first world countries, the shift to facilitating the majority of payments through Internet banking is inevitable. There is almost no suitable incentive motivating the majority of consumers to elect to turn off their paper bill, as long as their only option to view it is at the biller's own website.
There have been many attempts, locally and internationally, to create a single Internet location where consumers can view and pay all their bills. To date, there has not been one successful case, and these consolidators have either been migrated into something else or simply shut down. The reason is similar to online banking consolidation - it is simply not possible to gain critical mass.
In conclusion, to get the majority of your customers to agree to switch off a paper bill or statement, you must achieve the following:
Control the conversion process. Consumers cannot be left to convert to paperless billing on their own. The adoption process needs to be in the hands of the biller.
Remove the enrollment barrier. The requirement to proactively enroll in the online presentment process should be removed. New consumers should be defaulted to an electronic version of the paper process, and existing customers should be moved without being required to do anything.